What Dreams Are Made Of
by TheNovelArtist
Summary: Chat tells Ladybug his dreams. And they sound suspiciously like hers...
1. Chapter 1

"Do you know what I dream of, Bugaboo?"

Ladybug rolled her eyes at the nickname, just like she does every time. And just like she does whenever he calls her that, she doesn't even spare him a glance. "What do you dream of, Chat Noir?"

"Owning a quaint, little townhouse like this one." He tapped his foot on the roof of the house they were perched on. Today, they were hanging out in the city instead of on the Eiffel Tower after their completed patrol, talking about everything and nothing, as per usual.

"Really?" Ladybug teased. She looked down at the roof, pretending to assess the admittedly quaint house. "Seems awfully big for just one person."

Chat scoffed, holding his hand to his chest in mock offense. "My Lady, I would not live alone."

"Oh, I forgot," she interrupted before he could continue. "You and your kwami."

"Hardly." He looped his arm around her shoulder. " _Us_ and _our_ kwamis."

Ladybug snorted and shook off his arm off, earning a pout from him. "Keep dreaming, Chat, because that's not going to happen." She moved along the rooftops, leaving Chat in her wake.

Not that he lingered long. "You're right, Bugaboo," he said once he caught up. All evidence of his previous frown were long gone. "The house _is_ too small. We would need something slightly bigger so you can have a studio."

"You'd rent me a studio apartment?" Ladybug questioned dubiously.

"No, no. A fashion studio for you to design in."

Ladybug froze. "What?"

Chat spun lazily around to look back at Ladybug. "Well, that's what you want to be, right? A famous fashion designer? I think you'll do well, My Lady. Especially with the connections you'll have." With a wink, he turned back on his heel and began strolling across the rooftops.

It took Ladybug a moment to kick back into action. She rushed in front of him, stopping him with a hand to his chest. He looked far too smug for his own good, which didn't bode well for her. "Wait a second, Kitty. How did you know about that?" She paused, rethinking his statement. "And what do you mean 'connections I'll have'? I'm not going to use my status as Ladybug to further my career."

"Of course not," Chat agreed. "But you'll be in with some of the biggest names in the industry. You'll have connections."

Shaking her head in confusion, Ladybug decided to just drop the subject. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of playing into his hand, which was likely what he wanted. She pushed him away. "Whatever you say." She'd press him about it later when he was far less smug as he was right now.

"Whatever I say?" Chat smartly remarked. "Well then, that means, you'll say yes when I propose to you, we'll marry with a small intimate wedding with only our closest friends, then you'll go on to become the best fashion designer in all of Paris while I help run your business—I'm pretty good at business, you know—and somewhere in the midst of all that, we'll raise a happy little family complete with a dog, a cat, and three kids."

Ladybug froze, and the vibrant red blush sprawling across her cheeks right now only caused Chat to grin wider. Though, how that was possible, Ladybug didn't know; he was smiling plenty big already.

His green eyes sparkled with mirth as he gazed at her. "Three is a great number, don't you think?"

Her mouth opened on its own accord. Too bad nothing came out.

"Emma, Hugo, and Louis," he said thoughtfully before leaning over Ladybug's ear. "I really love those names, Princess."

Her face could not get any redder, she was certain. Any insults, any tell-offs, any rejections completely faded away as her mind only registered one thing.

Her heart kicked into frantic overdrive. "How?"

"How could I love those names? Well, Hugo is my middle—"

"No, I mean…" Ladybug blinked. "Hugo is your middle name?"

Chat nodded, but Ladybug barely noticed as she quickly backtracked, sputtering all the while. "No, no, _no._ What I _meant_ to say was how'd you figure out who I was?"

Thankfully, Chat had the decency to look sheepish. "Next time you detransform, make sure the closet doesn't have a window."

Ladybug smacked her head at her own stupidity. _In her_ _defense_ , she _barely_ managed to shut the door before she detransformed. The last Akuma battle had been a hard and lengthy one.

That sheepish expression on Chat's face soon melted away and was replaced by a giddy, Cheshire Cat grin. "And now that I know that I can have both my Lady _and_ my Princess, I am one happy cat."

Slowly, everything began to sink in. Chat knew her identity. Chat wasn't mad. Chat didn't seem disappointed. Ok, she could handle this. She could handle this.

But that didn't explain how he knew her dream. Only Alya and Tikki knew. Since there was no way either of them could tell, how did that cat know?

"Kitty," she began, tempering her irritation with fake sweetness, "I don't know how you figured out my dream, and while I'll pull it out of you yet, you should know that you clearly missed the detail of exactly who my husband would be."

Squaring off against her, he leaned forward till their noses were almost touching, giving her a sly grin. "Actually, Princess, I'll have you know that I fully did catch that detail. It was what caught my attention in the first place, and I'm flattered, really. As for how I learned, I wasn't eavesdropping if that's what you're thinking."

Ladybug huffed in disbelief.

Chat's smirk only grew. "All I have to say, Princess, is that if you want something to stay a secret, you and Alya should speak quieter."

With that, he turned to march away, leaving a befuddled, blushing Ladybug in his wake. "See you at school, Milady."

Chat bounded off the roof, leaving Ladybug too stunned to chase after him. Questions swirled like a storm in her mind. When? How? What? But most importantly, who? Who was he that he thought she would possibly marry—

Ladybug felt her heart stop right then and there as her eyes shot wide open. _Nnnoooo!_


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Wow. I didn't think I was going to get this reaction from an intended one-shot. It's made even more comical by the fact that I wrote four pages before deciding "nope, it's not funny enough. This should be funny." so I turned the serious/friendship story into what is now chapter 1. Glad everyone liked it so much. So when I got people saying "you can't end it there!" I simply couldn't disappoint.

* * *

"She's not gonna be happy tomorrow."

"You don't know that, Plagg."

"Yes," the hovering kwami said. "Yes, I do. It was nice knowin' ya, kid, because you're a dead man walking."

Adrien huffed. "You're so dramatic."

"No, that would be you."

"I am not."

"Says the guy who teased Ladybug within an inch of her life."

Adrien groaned. "Just go eat your cheese."

Not arguing with that, Plagg shot off like a rocket towards the mini-fridge.

If Adrien was being a little honest with himself, there was a likelihood his Lady-and-Princess was not going to be happy about that. However, he had way to much fun teasing her to even dredge up an ounce of regret.

Last week, when he had first overheard Marinette and Alya talking in the library, he hadn't a clue what to think. It took him half an hour to fully realize that his shy, sweet classmate, the one who he believed hated him, had a little more than a huge crush on him. An hour after that, he realized he was flattered. Beyond flattered, actually. After his photoshoot after school, most of which he spent spacing out much to the dismay of the photographer, he realized that her dream didn't sound so bad.

It was the next day he realized he had a problem. He had spent the night thinking about how a year or two of dating might help Marinette open up and feel comfortable around him, then he'd get to see that bubbly, sassy version of her he adored so much, that one he saw when he was Chat Noir. Speaking of that, he'd have to reveal that to her at some point, and while he thought he'd be nervous about even considering it, those nerves died down realizing that she could handle it. She was strong and capable enough to handle dating a superhero and trustworthy enough to keep that secret. It might not be the deal-breaker that he originally thought it was.

Then, when they were old enough, he'd marry her, because really, the thought of coming home to Marinette and her sweet smiles and warm hugs and what he was sure were loving kisses was far from an unpleasant thought.

Actually, considering how much of the night he thought about that, 'pleasant' might not be an understatement as well.

Father would certainly approve of her. She had raw talent and was eager to learn and improve, and she pushed herself and her designs to the outermost limit because she was just so darn passionate about it (which was, honestly, one of her most attractive features). Adrien had no doubt his father would approve of that. Someone who was as in love with the family business as he was. Because that would be the plan. Get Marinette connected to his father, which would automatically raise her high in the fashion industry. Then her designs would take her the rest of the way to the top. In the end, Marinette's biggest competition would be Agreste itself. Maybe then Marinette would take over the Agreste empire, or have her own line connected to the brand that she would run with when his father retired.

Or died, because Adrien firmly believed his father was such a workaholic that he wouldn't ever retire.

Adrien would help her the all along the way. Be by her side through every victory and failure. And love her through it all.

And then they'd have three kids. Three. The thought of that had him grinning like a lovesick idiot (yup, he'd admit it). She even had them named. Louis, Hugo—which he was partial to because it was his middle name and would have been his first had his mother allowed Father to name him—and Emma.

Emma Agreste.

Just like his mother.

Did she know that, too?

Then she mumbled something about a dog and a…hamster? He couldn't hear her correctly, but he wanted a cat, so surely they could come to a compromise. No hamster, cat instead. That sounded reasonable.

It was two days after he had overheard that conversation that he knew he was in trouble because it all started to sound good. Really good. Having a town house, settling down with his Princess, starting a family, encouraging her while she chased her dream. Maybe he'd even find one of his own to chase, one that didn't include modeling. And he fully believed she'd encourage him. That's just who she was.

All too suddenly, her dream became his. He fully adopted it and was sculpting it out in his own mind. Which only caused chaos on his heart, because it belonged to Ladybug. Right?

It threw him into torment for the next few days.

Until the latest akuma attack, when Ladybug had all of thirty seconds to find a hiding spot and ran straight into the first door they crossed. The second the door shut, he tried to turn away but caught a slight glimpse of her before he could.

And, well, curiosity killed the cat.

So he stole a quick look through the window. His heart stopped when he spied Marinette. His Princess. The girl who had been wreaking havoc on his heart, mind, and soul for the past week.

And just like that, it was decided. Adrien would pick up the dream and run with it. Madly, desperately. He'd pursue her to the ends of the earth if he had to, just so that he could make her dream a reality, and so he could live it with her. Because in that moment, he wanted nothing more than that. He wanted everything she had to offer, and maybe together, they'd have even more than that.

His heart nearly thudded out of his chest at the thought.

It was so hard to hold it in at school. _So_ hard. Nino often caught him staring at Marinette. And the goading was bordering on be too much. At each available moment, Nino was practically shoving Adrien into the shy designer. Adrien had never been so glad for photoshoots at the end of school. They were the perfect escape in time so that he could plan out how he was going to make his intentions known without Nino's harassment.

He already had enough of that from Plagg.

Tonight hadn't been how he planned to do so, either, but when he caught sight of the "for sale" sign on that little townhouse, he just couldn't help himself. All those dreams flew to the surface while he wondered if now would be too early to actually buy the thing.

Come to think of it, he'd never seen his Lady so red before. It did things to his pride.

He really didn't know how she was going to act tomorrow. Hopefully, she didn't hate him, and Plagg was just over-reacting.

Too bad the more he thought about it, the more he thought that little kwami might be right.

It was well into the morning when he flipped over and groaned into his pillow. "I'm an idiot."

"You have no argument from me."


	3. Chapter 3

She was torn between skinning her cat alive and kissing him senseless.

Or so she told herself. There was no way she'd have the courage to pull _that_ off.

"Marinette, you have school tomorrow. Get some sleep."

"I can't," Marinette whined while still pacing her floor. The clock proclaimed 11:03, but there was no way she was ready for bed yet.

Because Chat Noir, the guy she'd been pushing away for nearly two years, was the guy she had been madly in love with for two years. Chat Noir, who was Adrien, heard her talking to Alya about how she was going to marry Adrien and have three kids with him.

Yeah, because that totally wasn't mortifying. At all.

And now, Chat Noir/Adrien was now teasing her about it.

"He wasn't teasing you to be mean, Marinette," Tikki said for not the first time. Meaning Marinette had been talking out loud again.

"He was still teasing me, Tikki."

Tikki sighed again. "I don't think he was kidding about liking your dream."

"Of course he wasn't. Because Chat Noir likes Ladybug and would do anything to marry her."

"Chat Noir who is Adrien who loves you who is Ladybug,"

"Adrien who is Chat Noir who loves Ladybug who is me. Big difference."

"Chat calls you Princess. Chat calls you his Lady. No matter how you look at it, you're still royalty to him." She paused at that. "Actually, he calls Marinette Princess meaning he thinks you higher up on the royalty scale than Ladybug. Who is still you, by the way."

Marinette groaned and face-planted on her bed. "What am I going to do, Tikki?"

"Marry him, have three kids, and live happily ever after." _Great_ Tikki thought _I'm beginning to sound like Plagg._

Marinette whimpered at that.

Tikki sighed. "Get some sleep, Marinette. You'll feel better in the morning."

Except she didn't. Seeing as she didn't fall asleep until three, she was exhausted.

"Someone looks like she stayed up all night working on her designs," Alya greeted when Marinette ran into class. Frankly, it was a shock she was even on time.

Marinette stared at Adrien's empty chair. "More like fretting over Adrien."

"Yeah, but when don't you do that? I'm fairly certain you do that in your dreams."

Gee, some friend.

When the bell rang and Adrien didn't come in, Marinette thanked all her Ladybug Luck. She could process her next move.

Because it took her until the end of first class to decide that above all else, her kitty was not getting away with it. Not a chance.

It wasn't until after lunch did Adrien appear. "Photoshoot," he said, as was his standard answer for being late.

Nino rolled his eyes before returning to his heated conversation against Alya about which newly-released movie was going to be better. Marinette barely noticed, partly because she had already tuned them out and partly because Adrien was staring at her with the biggest pair of kitty eyes she hardly knew what to do.

Actually, surprisingly, those kitty eyes made it easier. This was Chat Noir, her partner. She could handle Chat. She could do this. She was Ladybug. Ladybug handles Chat on a near daily basis. She could do this. She could do this.

"Don't look at me like that, Adrien Hugo Agreste. I haven't decided what I'm going to do with you yet."

…Well, that works.

"Well," Adrien fought for words, "maybe accepting my offer on a date would be nice."

Neither realized Alya and Nino had stopped fight-conversing in order to watch the duo. Alya wasn't so blind as to not notice the attention that Adrien had been giving to Marinette this past week.

She also had kissed Nino when he told her he had relentlessly been goading Adrien to make a move. Not that anyone had to know anything about that.

"I didn't realize that was part of your dream," Marinette teased.

Suddenly, Adrien's green eyes of his sparkled with trouble. _Crap. What did she get herself into now?_

"Well, Milady, I didn't know you wanted to jump straight in. I'd have to speak about it with your parents first though. I am a gentleman."

There was something about his grin. So Chat-like, so teasing. His eyes glinting mischievously, playfully. This was Chat. And she was Ladybug. She could play along. That's what Ladybug did.

And Chat deserved to be strung along a little bit. What was wrong with that?

So she smiled back, hopefully matching that same coyness of Chat's. "I'll want a ring. A proper ring, presented with a proper proposal. And a nice wedding. Small, personal, just as you suggested. I'll also want a place to call my own. And you're right, I better have my own studio. We can go house-shopping tonight. I'll want one to move into immediately after the wedding, you see."

"Whatever the princess wants," he replied with genuine ease.

Oh, but she wasn't going to let him off _that_ easy. "And I'll want to get started on the family as soon as possible. You ready for that, Kitty?" She went in for the kill and reached for the hollow of his neck, right where his bell would sit, and pretended to flick it. Instead, she ended up snagging his t-shirt with her finger, tugging the collar down a bit.

And the color that flooded his face was _so worth it._

Now she really needed to get out of here before the ladybugs that were fluttering around in her stomach churned any more violent. Because, really, what she was implying wasn't exactly making her comfortable either. "You can pick me up after school and we can get started on all that right away. After all, can't keep our dreams waiting, can we?"

His face did get redder as he managed to nod.

"Good." She flashed him a big grin and started to walk past him. "See you after school," she said, reaching out to run her fingers once through his hair and leaning over just enough to whisper " _Mon Chaton_."

His face now rivaled Ladybug's suit, but considering how hot her cheeks were, she was certain her face wasn't much better. Time to take her leave. And fast.

Too bad Alya decided she wasn't going to let her friend off the hook that easy. The red-head bolted after the retreating bluenette. "Girl, what the heck was _that?!"_

Marinette was sure she was blushing now but was determined to keep face. "I don't know what you're talking about."

After spending the rest of the day bombarded with questions from Alya, Marinette wouldn't deny that she was ready to get home.

However, her perfectly laid plans to escape her well-meaning friend slid to a screeching halt when she was stopped by Adrien outside. "Well, Milady, are you ready?"

Her brow furrowed. "Ready for?"

"House-shopping. You said we'd go right after school," he said, cheekily grinning while pointing towards his car. "Also, what's your ring size?"

* * *

A/N: Finished. For now, this will be it. Thanks for reading, and I'd love to hear your reviews. :)


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: This is it! This is the end. Really, truely, I mean it this time. It's wrapped up with a pretty bow. Enjoy and I'd love to hear your reviews! :)

* * *

He didn't take her house-shopping. And upon her absolute insistence, he didn't buy her a ring either. ("Not even a promise ring, bugaboo?" "No.") Instead, he took her for ice cream. The Gorilla kindly kept his mouth shut tight about it, for a price.

He got to send a picture to Natalie.

Adrien found out later that she owed him lunch. He'd laugh if he wasn't so shocked his father's employees were making bets about their employer's son's love life behind his back

A two-hour date later, they would officially call themselves established. Laying down all joking, teasing, and jesting, they decided to take it slow. Rushing what they had as friends and partners and potentially more was not a risk they wanted to take. They each wanted this to work. That and they were young and had all the time in the world.

Alya and Nino, when hearing about it after said date, believed them…for all of a week.

"I don't think they know the concept of 'taking it slow'," Alya commented.

"I'd believe it if the only thing they did was hold hands and go on an occasional date. But three times this week, my boy's got caught up in a text convo with Mari. And if they were taking it slow, they'd actually let each other's hands go."

"That and the googly eyes and the love-struck looks on their faces…"

"Dude, they got it so bad."

"You know what they say," came a high-pitched voice that grated on both Alya and Nino in an instant. "Go in fast, burn out just as quickly. Adrien's just indulging in a little fling. He's naïve enough to fall for the 'sweet, innocent' girl. Trust me, he'll be over her and back to _mwah_ in no time."

"Yeah," Alya scoffed. "You just keep telling yourself that, Chloe. You're just mad because Marinette got Adrien before you did."

With a growl and a few scathing words, Chloe marched off.

"We watchin' their backs against Miss Mayor's Daughter over there?"

"Oh, yeah."

So the good friends that Alya and Nino were, they did. Marinette and Adrien were hard-pressed not to notice. Not that they were mad, per say, at the way their friends were sassing the blonde menace and keeping her at bay. And most certainly they didn't encourage it.

Oh, no.

They agreed that if anyone asked, they were too busy hanging out to notice. Which wasn't entirely lie. They spent a lot of time together. Adrien often walked Marinette home, where he would often stay and do homework and play games until her parents proclaimed it dinner time and they begged for him to join. Family dinners soon became a thing for Adrien, and the Dupain-Changs enjoyed his company just as much as he did theirs.

It wasn't all that long until Adrien and Mareintte grew steadily more public about their relationship. Between their hugging and coddling and all around closeness, the entire school knew that they were together and there was absolutely nothing Chloe could do to stop it.

Much to everyone's dismay. If you asked Ladybug and Chat Noir, they'd say that five was way too many times for a single person to get akumatized.

And then came the day that changed it all.

Alya's fault all together.

"Did you see Ladybug and Chat Noir?" The girl squealed on the first day of their final year of school. She then proceeded to shove the newest photo on the Ladyblog in Marinette's face. "They are totally a couple and this proves it!"

Marinette pushed Alya's cell phone away from her face just enough to see the picture. And immediately began fighting the burn inching up her neck. It was a picture of Ladybug and Chat Noir after they had completed patrol, hanging out on the rooftops of Paris. She had thought they had been well hidden.

Apparently not since Alya had a perfectly clear photo of Chat Noir snuggling Ladybug in his arms, his face pressed against her cheek while she wore a smile bright enough to dim the lights on the Eiffel Tower.

Whoops.

Ever since they started dating, Marinette and Adrien had decided that they wanted to keep Ladybug and Chat Noir out of the dating mess. (Rather, it took Marinette a week to convince Adrien of it, but eventually he understood and caved to her wishes.) They didn't need their superhero-selves at the forefront Paris' gossip rags in a "confirmed relationship," nor did they want Hawkmoth to find out and use it to their advantage.

Clearly, they were not careful enough.

"They are just so _cute!"_ Alya squealed loud enough to shake the schoolyard. "And I knew they were dating. I knew it!"

"Who'd you know were dating?"

Marinette felt Adrien's arms wrap around her waist and pull her against his chest while his chin rested comfortably on top her head. She both loved and hated that he had grown so tall.

Alya raised her phone higher to stick in in Adrien's face. "Ladybug and Chat Noir. They are so adorable!" she paused. "Well, next to you two, of course."

"Of course," Adrien said. Marinette resisted the urge to giggle at the irony.

"What are you laughing at?"

Apparently, she had failed. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" Adrien shifted so he was now looking at her over her shoulder.

"Nothing," she confirmed, her smile only growing.

"Yeah, I doubt that." He hugged her tighter, causing the now giggling girl to curl up into him while he shoved his face into her cheek. One of his favorite positions.

When they pulled away, Marinette's gaze immediately landed on her best friend, who stood shock still, her wide-eyed gaze bouncing back and forth between the couple before her and the phone she held limply in her hand.

"Alya?"

"NO! WAY!"

It took a substantial amount of bribes in order for Alya to keep quiet. It shouldn't have surprised either of them. Alya was observant and had the eyes of a hawk. She ran the Ladyblog and happened to be best friends with Ladybug's alter ego. Really, it was only a matter of time before she figured it out.

However, now that she knew and had nearly screamed it to the entire school, it would take a bit to get everything back under control.

And while things did get under control, they never did return to normal.

Because Alya loved LadyNoir nearly as much as she loved Adrienette. Since she learned that they were now the same people, all the reasoning that Alya did to justify why Ladybug and Chat Noir were the couple to end all couples and should get married immediately fell directly onto Marinette and Adrien. And her audience was the entire school. It took no time at all before the heckling and harassing started.

On the plus side, Adrien did finally find out what Marinette's ring size was.

About half way through the year, Marinette and Adrien were growing weary, ultimately deciding to seek out private time together while in school. Unfortunately, it stirred up some…suggestive rumors.

Suggestive rumors that somehow, by all of Chat Noir's bad luck, got back to Adrien's father.

When Adrien got called into his father's office, he was nervous beyond all belief. When his father held up a copy of the school newspaper (that Adrien now severely regretted bringing home) opened up to a page of him and Marinette, he knew he was absolutely, totally, and completely screwed.

Three hours later—yes, _three_ —Adrien was released from his father's office. While it started off horribly, it ended on a much better note. _Much_ better.

Hour one was spent convincing his father that absolutely nothing unseemly or suggestive was happening between him and Marinette. That he was still the completely honorable son that Gabriel Agreste raised. And maybe Adrien got in a bit of chastising his father for even thinking for a second that his perfectly respectable son was inappropriately gallivanting around with a perfectly innocent, sweet girl.

While he was aware he was pushing it, his father seemed to accept it. Amazingly enough.

Hour two was spent conveying to his now calmed father all of Marinette's good qualities, her interest in fashion, and her potential to the Agreste brand. Despite being socially deprived when he was younger, Adrien learned a thing or two about how to get a conversation to go in his favor. He knew exactly what to say to convince his father that a potential internship for Marinette would end better for him than it would for her.

It still shocked Adrien that his father agreed.

Hour three…

Adrien would rather not discuss the conversation held during hour three.

What it did end with was his father presenting Adrien with a ring. His mother's ring.

"You get this after I meet her."

Adrien beamed. "Of course, Father."

Telling Marinette the next day was hilarious, to say the least. Adrien was aware he shouldn't laugh at his girlfriend's panic attack, but she was just so adorable, he couldn't help it.

So when the arranged dinner at the Agreste Mansion went not only good but smashingly well, Marinette was nothing short of utterly relieved. Marinette got an offer for an apprenticeship after she completed school. She tried to contain her excitement as she squeaked and stumbled out a "yes."

And after Adrien saw Marinette home, he entered his own home only to see his father standing in the foyer, holding out a little velvet box.

The slight smile on his father's face almost seemed out of place, but it was still great to see. "I trust you'll go about this correctly?"

"She doesn't deserve anything less."

The box was placed into Adrien's outstretched hand. "I'm proud of you."

Adrien's gaze shot to his father, shocked and bewildered at the wide smile on his father's face.

With a nod, his father turned to take his leave. Not that Adrien really wanted him to go.

"So," he said in way of getting his father to stay just a moment longer, "Apprenticeship? Not internship?"

"Of course not," his father returned. "Internship implies that she'll be learning how to design for Agreste. Apprenticeship implies teaching her how to run it."

There had been many times his father had rendered him speechless, but never like that before.

It was only later that night when he stared at the sparkling diamond ring in the little velvet box that Adrien suddenly grew nervous. He was going to ask Marinette to marry him. He was going to do it. He was going to ask her—miss perfect, wonderful, compassionate Ladybug/Marinette, a princess and a lady with a bright, shining future ahead of her—to marry him. He wasn't nervous about her saying yes. He knew she loved him and thought the world of him just as he thought the world of her. He was just nervous about how her parents were going to handle an eighteen-year-old boy asking for their nearly eighteen-year-old daughter's hand.

The answer: surprisingly well.

"Adrien," Sabine told him, "I would be nervous if I didn't watch you two with my own eyes. You two may be young, but love like that doesn't even always exist between married couples. You have my blessing."

" _Our_ blessing," Tom interrupted. "Welcome to the family, son."

Adrien chuckled, but still shook Tom's hand. "I'll accept that welcome only after Marinette says yes."

Of course, he wouldn't ask her until a few months later, after they had finished school. After her eighteenth birthday. Before Adrien would start up university (online, because he wasn't going to leave. Marinette had encouraged him to go, to chase a dream of his own, and he promised he would do it. But he wasn't leaving her. Not a chance.) Before Marinette started up her surely hectic apprenticeship with Gabriel Agreste. Just when everything was calm. Just when the moment was perfect.

A moment that took place after a sweet and simple dinner date that ended with them wandering around Paris for two hours before sitting down on a park bench to eat ice cream and watch the sun set.

"If my fifteen-year-old self could see us now," Marinette started, her ice cream finished but unwilling to leave Adrien's side just yet, "she might just have a heart attack."

"Then I'm very glad she can't," Adrien returned, "because I very much like that you're alive and well."

Marinette chuckled, snuggling in closer against him. "I still remember the day you told me you overheard Alya and I talking about my dream to marry you and have three kids and all that. That was heart attack inducing enough."

Adrien chuckled. "But I'm very glad I did. It lead to this."

She looked up at him, her blue eyes shining brighter than all the lights in Paris. "It did," she said reverently. "Before that, I barely could believe that it would ever happen. Now, I'm really living the dream."

Adrien hummed, suddenly feeling the little velvet box burning a hole in his pocket. "Not quite."

Marinette's smile faded as her brow quirked in confusion. Adrien gave no time for her to ask what he meant before taking her hand, sliding off the bench and onto one knee. Her gasp filled the night and gave him the lightest feeling. "Marinette Dupain-Chang," he began, holding her left hand tightly. "I love you. I love that you are my partner. I love that you are my best friend. I love spending time with you, whether it's wandering around Paris or spending an organized night out. I love knowing you are always there for me, and I love being there for you. Ever since the day I overheard you and Alya talking about your dream, I've hardly been able to picture anything else for my future. I want you. I want to see you happy, all the time, every day. I want to make a life with you, to have three kids and a townhouse. I want to watch you succeed in becoming the greatest fashion designer Paris has ever seen. And I want to always be at your side."

By now, he had retracted the little box and flicked it open, revealing the diamond ring. By now, she was crying tears of joy. "So, Marinette Dupain-Chang, will you please, _please_ do me the greatest honor of becoming my wife?"

She couldn't speak. Not past the emotion. Frankly, she couldn't even seem to find a voice at all. So she frantically nodded her head, trying all the while to find the words she desperately needed to say. It wasn't until after he slid the perfect-sized ring on her finger and she collapsed into his awaiting arms did she manage, "I love you, too, Adrien. I love you so much."

Adrien just held her, smiling so wide it nearly hurt while a tear or two rolled down his cheeks.

Because it was moments like this that dreams were made of.


End file.
